


even the sweetest plum has only got so long

by writing_way_too_much



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst, As much as it can be, Canon Compliant, Homophobia, Hopeful Ending, M/M, Open Ending, Overuse Of Parentheses, Panic Attacks, Well - Freeform, but it's my fic, idolverse, it is kinda dark i guess, just imagine that they're okay, perhaps a bit unrealistic, the summary makes it sound so dark, whatever
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-07-06 15:40:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15889011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writing_way_too_much/pseuds/writing_way_too_much
Summary: It was never supposed to end like this.





	even the sweetest plum has only got so long

**Author's Note:**

> hi! in case you didn't know, i am complete trash for nct dream and norenmin in particular!
> 
> title from troye sivan's "plum" (sidenote go listen to his new album your ears will be blessed)
> 
> the events transpiring in this fic are, uh, super unrealistic but go with me here okay it's just a story
> 
> if homophobia or panic attacks are triggers for you, you'll probably want to avoid this story.
> 
> disclaimer: this is completely fictitious. i own only the plot.
> 
> edited may 28, 2019 for capitalization and grammar

Renjun is the one who texts him first.

_ jaemin _ .

Something’s wrong. Huang Renjun never uses punctuation when he texts.

_ what? _

_ we got caught _

Chilling fear sweeps over Jaemin.

Jeno texts him not two seconds later.

_ we’re fucked _

Lee Jeno never swears.

Jaemin rolls onto his stomach and tries to remember how to breathe.

  
  
  
  
  


( It was never supposed to end like this. )

  
  
  
  
  


( When Jaemin falls, when he first gets injured, Renjun moves faster than he has in his entire life to be by his side, and in that moment, Renjun realizes, there is no going back. )

  
  
  
  
  


( In the long months of Jaemin’s hiatus, Renjun and Jeno sleep in each other’s beds under the guise of worry, and when Jeno moves his mouth closer till it connects and Renjun doesn’t stop him, they both realize that this is the beginning of something unstoppable. )

  
  
  
  


( When Jaemin comes back, still smiling, still flirting with anything with a pulse, Jeno can’t help the rush of relief he feels at seeing that Jaemin is still Jaemin, and it is right then when Jeno realizes he’d do anything for him. )

  
  
  
  
  


( when Renjun huddles in the corner of the practice room, way after lights-out, unable to stop the panic, Jaemin finds him and holds him and tells him it’ll be okay, and there is no way to pass it off as platonic. )

  
  
  
  
  


( when Jeno reaches for Jaemin’s hand in the backstage darkness, fingers clumsy with nerves, and Jaemin almost pushes him against the wall and kisses him, there is no reversing that thought. )

  
  
  
  


( It was never supposed to end like this. )

( It was supposed to end the way it began, in questioning looks and lingering touches and sweet kisses and laughing so hard they thought their chests might explode. It was supposed to have a happy ending, despite everything. )

( This is anything but. )

  
  
  


“How did they even find out?”

Jeno’s face is white. The entire rest of NCT is out, leaving just the three of them in the kitchen with ominous texts and emails, awaiting their fate.

“It was a camera,” Renjun says bitterly. He holds up the email he received, more detailed than any other. “Security camera caught us.”

“What are they going to do?” Jaemin asks hesitantly. “They can’t kill us.”

Jeno laughs a tiny bit. “Nothing so extreme, Nana.”

“My parents are going to be so disappointed.” Renjun collapses into a chair. “I didn’t want for any of this to happen.”

“I still love you guys,” Jaemin ventures after a few beats. “I don’t want to be separated.”

Jeno laughs again, but it’s harsh. “You know the rules. We all do. You know what people will think.”

Renjun stares fixedly at the floor.

“What will everyone else think?” He sounds close to tears, and Jeno pulls him into a hug. “Mark-hyung and Hyuck and Lele and Jisungie? what about the rest of NCT? Taeyong-hyung and Kun gē--”

“Don’t think about that.” Jaemin feels his own heart breaking at Renjun’s tone. “I--they’d be fine with it--”

Jeno looks at him sadly. “Do you really think so?”

  
  
  
  
  


They’re summoned to the main executive building, in a freezing cold hallway with harsh lighting. The lone bench outside of the office where their fates await them is uncomfortable, but they all pile onto it anyway. Jaemin sits in between Renjun and Jeno, none of them speaking, waiting for the inevitable.

“Lee Jeno!”

Renjun is beginning to shake.

Jeno stands up, and then impulsively kisses Jaemin’s mouth and Renjun’s forehead. Renjun gives a tiny sob. Jaemin pulls him into his arms.

“If I never see you guys again, I didn’t regret it,” Jeno says quietly. “I wouldn’t do it any differently. I love you.”

“Love you too,” Jaemin whispers. Renjun presses a hand into the fabric of Jeno’s shirt, unable to speak. They all know what the gesture means.

If they hadn’t already been caught, Jaemin wouldn’t hold Renjun the way he does now, but they no longer have anything to lose. So he wraps his arms around Renjun and whispers words of comfort that they both know are false. Once Renjun’s breathing has calmed enough, he kisses him full on the lips.

“I don’t regret it either,” Renjun murmurs, resting his forehead on Jaemin’s. “I’m so sorry this had to end like this.”

“It isn’t your fault,” Jaemin replies. He’s holding Renjun a little too tightly. Neither of them care.

Jeno doesn’t come back into the hall. 

“Huang Renjun!”

“It’ll be okay, Injun,” Jaemin forces himself to say. “Somehow.”

Renjun smiles sadly at him and pushes open the door.

Jaemin misses them already.

  
  
  
  
  


“Na Jaemin!”

The door sticks when Jaemin tries to open it, which doesn’t bode well for this meeting. He sees another door on the other side of the room swinging shut and prays wildly that they haven’t hurt Renjun, that if he had a panic attack someone took care of him, someone pet his hair and rubbed his back. He hopes they didn’t make Jeno cry.

There are two men sitting behind a desk, one in an intimidating black office chair, one in a folding chair. A third man stands off to the side.

“You know why you’re here,” the man in the office chair says without preamble. He isn’t the CEO. Jaemin wonders who they leave to deal with the criminals.

“Yes,” Jaemin says, as insolently as he thinks he can get away with.

“Your contract has been terminated, you will no longer work for this company, and you will never see those two other miscreants again. We will put it down to long-term injury. No intelligent person will employ you. Your parents have already been notified.”

The man sounds bored, like he’s used to this, like he doesn’t care that he’s ruining their lives. Jaemin sees red.

“Why?” he challenges. “We didn’t do anything wrong. We’re just in love.”

“Can you even call it love?” the man who’s standing asks. He has some serious muscle going on. “It’s unnatural.”

“Fuck off,” Jaemin spits. They all exchange a look of surprise. He guesses that neither Jeno nor Renjun tried to fight back. “If you’re leaving us all destitute, at least leave us together.”

The man in the folding chair visibly shudders. “And encourage that behavior? Never.”

“We’re sorry,” the man in the office chair says. He slips on a fake mask of pity when Jaemin glares at him. “But rules are rules.”

“Then change the rules!” Jaemin hisses out past the pain in his chest. “You were the ones who made them, change the fucking rules!”

“It’s just the way things are,” the folding chair man interrupts.

Jaemin digs his fingernails into the palm of his hand. “Then maybe things should be different!”

The office chair man flips a hand at him. “I’ve had enough of you. Get him out of my sight.”

  
  
  
  


The first thing Jaemin sees when they shove him through the second door and into a dark hallway is a head of light hair.

“Jeno-hyung?” he breathes, barely able to let himself hope.

“Nana!” Jeno springs to his feet and hugs Jaemin, hard. “What did they tell you?”

“Probably the same thing they told you.” Jaemin melts into Jeno’s embrace. “Where’s Injun?”

Jeno’s brow creases in concern. “I don’t know. He came through this door but then the muscular guy put him through there and locked it behind him. I don’t think he noticed I was still here.”

Jaemin takes a deep breath. “We have to find him.”

At the doors, they took away their cell phones but managed to overlook the Swiss army knife in Jeno’s pocket. It’s gotten taken away from him more times than Jaemin can count, because he always forgets to take it out, and when Jeno pulls it out, Jaemin kisses him right then and there.

“Whoa, it’s just a pocketknife,” Jeno jokes.

“First we should make it so they can’t follow us,” Jaemin says.

They end up just taking off the doorknob. Jaemin squints through the hole and can’t see any people left in the room, which he counts as a mini victory.

“God, when did this turn into a crime show?” Jeno grunts as he struggles to pick the lock of the door Renjun disappeared through.

“CSI: SM Entertainment,” Jaemin says. That gets a laugh, a real one.

He wishes he could help Jeno with the door, but he can’t, so Jaemin just paces back and forth and lets the anger ebb away. He knows it won’t do him any good. This entire country still isn’t great with gay people, let alone polyamorous gay people. What they have to do now is be smart, not angry.

Jeno straightens up. “Got it.”

Jaemin lets out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “Injun, here we come.”

  
  
  
  
  


They find Renjun right inside the door, curled up on his side, breathing steadily but slowly. Jaemin freaks out at the sight of Renjun looking so lifeless and it takes Jeno a solid ten minutes to calm him down. Renjun wakes up on his own while Jeno is still rubbing circles into Jaemin’s back and Jaemin kisses him out of sheer relief.

“I think you just like kissing us,” Jeno says, amused.

Getting out is actually relatively easy. They stick to back hallways and unused staircases. It’s late anyway, and most everyone is gone.

And then…

And then they’re on the streets of Seoul, no money, clothes, or phones.

“This is fun,” Jaemin says, teeth chattering. “What the hell do we do from here?”

“I don’t know,” Renjun admits. Jaemin’s never seen him this determined. “But we’ve at least got each other.”

This could end tomorrow in disaster. But right now, Jaemin’s holding the hands of the two people he loves most, and right now, they could make a new life. maybe.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! comments and kudos make me smile :)
> 
> hmu on tumblr @bestfluteninja and we can scream about the dreamies together


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